Chronic lymphocytic leukemia is a indolent hematological disorder characterized by monoclonal B lymphocyte proliferation. It is the most common adult leukemia in Western populations and comprises up to 30 percent of leukemias developed world.
Identification of the cases that need early and prompt treatment still leaves many patients with untailored treatment options.
Study of epigenetics in leukemia may provide early identification and effective treatment option. There has been intensive work on the role of various methyltransferases in leukemias, however EHMT1 expression levels in Egyptian patients with CLL, and their prognostic value are still inconclusive.
A previous study have suggested that EHMT1 is over expressed is CLL cases with worse prognosis cytogenetic abnormalities (p = 0.05), however expression level of EHMT1 has not been studied against CD38 and Zap70.
AIM OF WORK:
To study the expression of EHMT1 in newly diagnosed CLL patients and evaluate its role as a prognostic marker for CLL.